British Air Forces in France

British Air Forces in France was an RAF Command set up on 15 January 1940 under the command of Air Marshal Arthur Barratt to provide unified control of all RAF units based in France. It had two immediately subordinate formations, with differing tasks.

The AASF consisted of RAF light bomber squadrons based within France (around Rheims) to allow them to bomb Germany should the political decision to do so be taken. No such decision had been taken before the German offensive in the West began on 10 May 1940, and thereafter the AASF bomber force was used against the advancing German Army and its lines of communications. As well as the forces under its command, BAFF could also request RAF Bomber Command to provide support from UK-based medium bombers. The headquarters of BAFF were at Chauny alongside those of the French air commander, to maximise co-operation between the BAFF and the Armée de l'Air.

As of 10 May the strength of BAFF was

and there was a commitment to reinforce BAFF with a further four Hurricane squadrons when the expected German offensive started.

As promised, BAFF was reinforced by four Hurricane squadrons in response to the German offensive. The operational instructions issued by BAFF had stated that:

The AASF when used against German troops and key bridges rapidly suffered heavy losses in the face of the large numbers of Luftwaffe fighters and highly effective light anti-aircraft units protecting the offensive. By the end of 12 May the number of serviceable bombers with the AASF had been reduced to 72 (from 135 when the German offensive opened). The War Cabinet meeting that evening were warned by the Chief of Air Staff Cyril Newall that the bomber losses had been disproportionate to the results achieved. On 14 May the AASF made a maximum effort attack on the pontoon bridges thrown across the Meuse at Sedan by the Germans; it lost 40 out of 71 attacking aircraft.

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